The Scarecrow

A Novel

Newspaperman Jack McEvoy decides to use his final days at the LA Times to write the definitive murder story of his career. Focusing on the case of Alonzo Winslow, a 16-year-old drug dealer in jail after confessing to a brutal murder, Jack realizes that Winslow's so-called confession is bogus and that the real killer is operating completely below police radar--and with perfect knowledge of any move against him.

I do not understand all the admiration for this book. Too many boring details about IT stuff. Many complaints about today's journalism. And then, of course, always powerful FBI. Not interesting book. Barely finish reading it.

And easy quick read - sometimes blazingly fast...but I thought it had a weak ending and some "implausible" convolutions. Even if all fiction were implausible it ought not to seem that way when one reads it. But all in all, a pleasant day looking for the killer.